Government vows to help Hall's staff

Senior News Reporter

Tuesday 16 October 2012

THE Scottish Government has pledged to stand by the 1700 workers affected by the closure of a major meat processing plant in West Lothian.

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BRIAN DONNELLY

Finance Secretary John Swinney said the focus was now on helping to secure alternative employment for the beleaguered workforce of Hall's of Broxburn.

Support was also pledged for the Scottish pig industry. A new processing plant is now required as the factory prepares to cease production by next year.

Following the closure announcement yesterday, which came after months of work by a Government-led taskforce to save the plant, Mr Swinney outlined a recovery plan and pledged "the work of the Hall's of Broxburn taskforce will continue."The announcement by Dutch-owed Vion, the parent company of Hall's, signalled one of the biggest factory closures in Scotland since Motorola shut its Livingston plant in 2001 with the loss of more than 3000 jobs.Vion, which claimed it was losing £79,000 day, earlier said it faced "extremely challenging" conditions in the UK meat industry and claimed over-investment in the plant had added to costs.The plant has been a key meat producer in Scotland, handling 8000 pigs a week and producing Britain's best-selling haggis.However, attempts to save the plant were fruitless, despite two agnonising extensions of the closure announcement date as the firm examined details of the late bids.Holyrood offered a £2 million bailout that would have involved buying the plant and leasing it back to the firm, but the Vion said it would need £100m to address problems at the site.Mr Swinney said: "The Scottish Government has worked with taskforce partners since the start of the 90-day consultation period to secure a viable future for the Broxburn plant."Through that work we were able to put a strong and creative investment proposition backed by the public sector to Vion that could have secured a future for Hall's of Broxburn."We were able to secure interest from three parties and two bids went forward last Friday to take over its operations."The recovery plan would "help to mitigate the impact of this closure on West Lothian as a whole", he added.Union leader Lawrence Wason of Usdaw said: "We are bitterly disappointed. "Personally I felt there was a slim chance some of the jobs could be saved."As well finding new jobs for workers, the recovery plan will aim to help rebuild pig processing in Scotland.Jim McLaren, chairman of Quality Meat Scotland, said: "The Scottish pig industry must now move forward into a new chapter which will see the opportunity to restructure pig processing from which I am confident the industry will emerge even stronger and sharper."Our discussions with a number of the operators of other plants currently processing pigs have proved promising. I am optimistic about the potential for these companies to absorb a significant portion of the pig processing capacity currently undertaken at Broxburn."Mr Swinney added: "We are developing a strategy for the pig industry in Scotland, working with the sector to enhance pig processing and production."Hall's has been making meat products since 1932. Some areas of the plant will cease production later this month, with full closure expected to take place by February next year.VION UK chairman Peter Barr said it was a "sad day" for the company. He added: "We have already had detailed discussions with employees and their union representatives to brief them on details of the enhanced redundancy terms and to outline our plans to support them."

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Government vows to help Hall's staff

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